Bloodrush
by i.amazonian
Summary: Love. Guilty until proven innocent. Zutara, Taang
1. Vanity

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 1: Vanity

…

She isn't a vain person, and yet…

…

She looks into a mirror.

_Why?_

A teardrop finds its way to her chin and she makes a furious effort to erase any trace.

_Liar._

She isn't sure if she's directing the insult to the woman looking back at her. She's been improving with practice that she can fool almost anyone.

Except the person whose blue eyes are piercing through her now.

_Fool._

Now she knows she's talking to herself. She hears the loud, almost reckless footsteps only a man could possess and she knows they're here.

"My Lady?"

She isn't a vain person, and yet for each of the past sixteen days her ladies-in-waiting have caught here staring at her own reflection.

"Yes?"

"The Fire Lord wishes for your presence in the throne room, my Lady."

"Who was there? In the hallway, I mean."

"I'm sorry?"

"I heard footsteps. Men. Soldiers, probably. Before you came in, you must have seen them. Who were they?"

The lady-in-waiting pauses in thought, then hesitates.

"The Kyoshi Warriors, your Highness."

Her brows meet.

"The Kyoshi Warriors are women, Ling. Don't lie to me."

"I apologize for the misunderstanding, your Highness. They're the Fire Nation's newly trained Kyoshi Warriors. Trained by General S—"

"Tell your Fire Lord I'll be there on my own time."

She rarely raises her voice. She narrows her eyes at the thought.


	2. Defy

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 2: Defy

…

Her eyes darken with defiance.

…

"Why do you insist on doing this, Fire Lady?"

"Use my name."

Seven pairs of eyes widen at the demand. They have always been impressed by the Fire Lady's courage.

"It is not proper. Just as you address me by my title, I should—"

"Use my name, Zuko."

The Fire Lord pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration and raises the flames in the room just a little bit to make his point.

The Fire Lady does not flinch.

"Use my name."

He sighs.

"Alright. Katara."

She does not yield.

"Katara, why must you keep on going against my wishes? The plan is to get you to Gaoling safely and my council and I have agreed—"

"I do not belong to you, nor do I belong to your council."

"Katara—"

"And do not confuse my safety for your pride."

He snaps.

"You will show me respect, Katara. I am the Fire Lord, king of the Fire Nation, and your husband!"

"You will get respect when you deserve it."

The council almost faints with the insult. The flames rise higher.

"How dare you call me unworthy of respect?"

The flames reach to the ceiling. She snaps her wrist and the flames are doused with a powerful jet of water. Steam fills the rooms.

"You should know by now that your fire does not inflict fear in me, Fire Lord Zuko."

Silence falls. The steam slowly leaves the rooms through the vents, and the now fireless division reveals a scarless face.

He closes his eyes.

"The Kyoshi Warriors will escort you to Gaoling."

"Those boys are no Kyoshi Warriors. Suki alone can castrate those boys before you can even give them the command to attack."

"They were trained by—"

"My brother is an idiot. The only people worthy to be Kyoshi Warriors are women."

"Don't be insulting, Katara. They're fully qualified."

"By Sokka! As far as I know, Sokka isn't the leader of the warriors. He isn't even one."

"But still—"

"Why them? The real Kyoshi Warriors can do it. Suki offered."

"We shouldn't bother them."

"Then why bother Sokka to train a new group?"

He sighs and decides to continue.

"Those soldiers will surround the Imperial Ship where you will be travelling."

"Why men? Aren't you afraid one might take advantage of my being alone?"

"I am confident of your skills, Katara. You can probably castrate them faster than Suki can."

She rolls her eyes.

"Then why even send guards with me?"

The council's eyes once again widen with the Fire Lady's wit. The Fire Lord isn't easy to trap, after all.

He ignores the question and rubs the side of his forehead.

"You don't want to send women with me because they will sense how troubled I am in a heartbeat, and your pride won't allow that."

"Stop it Katara!"

"Why should I, Fire Lord? I am not under your nation's jurisdiction!"

"Is that it then? You miss your old Water Tribe life?"

"The Water Tribe life is within me."

"Then what? You don't want to go to Gaoling?"

"No! Not with your reasons and certainly not with your command!"

"I am your husband, Katara. You are the Fire Lady. It is my duty to do what's best for you."

Her eyes darken with defiance.

"I may be Fire Lady, but you are not my husband."

Gasps emerge from the men, surprisingly albeit justified. The most sacrificing woman from the most familial nation has just openly denied her commitment to the most dedicated leader of the nation that most values honor. This isn't a daily occurrence. In fact, in the whole history of the four nations, this is a first.

The Fire Lord stands up.

"How dare you insult me? How dare you! We are married in every sense of the word. Our contract lives!"

"We may be married, but you are not my husband."

"Seize your tongue, or you will be sleeping behind bars tonight!"

"You cannot do that, Fire Lord. Our contract lives."

The Fire Lord is not known for keeping his composure when his temper flares.

"I do not care about the stupid contract!"

A wry smile forms on the Lady's face.

"I know you don't. Especially the spoken ones."

Every mind in the room goes into overdrive, trying to recall every conversation between the Fire Nation's rulers that might be considered a spoken contract. Zuko sits back down.

"What in the world do you mean by that?"

"I know why you're sending me to Gaoling."

An almost unbearable silence blankets the room. No one save for the Fire Lord knows the reason for the Lady's impending trip. Every ear is straining to hear, every mind is longing to find out. And now, she knows. And the Fire Lord is genuinely shocked.

"Katara…"

"What's the matter, oh mighty Fire Lord? Floored by a peasant?"

"Don't go assuming things, Fire Lady. You don't know my reasons."

She scoffs.

"Oh, I'm pretty confident that I do. The length of my vacation, the insensitive gossip-impaired male guards, a disappearance? I am not stupid. You are a fool to think so."

No one has ever made the most stoic faces in the Fire nation show so much emotion in one sitting. She knows that length of the stay? Who disappeared? Everyone knew of the Lady's bloodbending ability, can she read minds too? Or maybe force people to tell the truth? Not to mention she just called the Fire Lord a fool. What tenacity.

"We'll talk about this later, Katara."

"When? After you visit Mai's quarters?"

A general falls off his chair. The Fire Lord is the most faithful of all the Fire Lords, abolishing the harem and rendering concubines and their acts illegal. The implication that he has cheated on the Lady Katara, even though it was a bond arranged on politics, was preposterous. A general speaks.

"Fire Lady, with all due respect, Fire Lord Zuko is strongly against passionate acts outside marriage. It would be impossible for him to do anything to dishonor you and—"

"Masks are not only existent in painted blue boards tied around the head, General Choi."

More confusion. The Fire Lord defies.

"Even so, Katara, your accusation is brash and unjustified!"

Ever loyal to his king, the general speaks again.

"And the lady Mai's chambers in the palace hall has long been vacated. She is not residing here, my lady."

The Fire Lady faces the general and speaks softly but strongly.

"She is in the living quarters the Fire Lord has built for her underground."

A chorus of "what's" erupts from the outraged men, including the one on the throne. A question rises up from the mess.

"How do you know this, Fire Lady? Do you have any proof?"

"General, you might be trained in espionage, but so is your Fire Lord. He knows how to keep secrets from you."

She smirks.

"However, none of you are capable of what I can do, and so the Fire Lord Zuko has failed to keep it from me."

"I don't understand, my lady…"

"Bloodbending, General. I haven't forced anyone to tell me, it does not work that way. Even so, I don't need force. Just as the greatest earthbender in the world feels the littlest vibrations in the ground from miles away, I recognize the rush of water and blood around me. I've been getting better with it, actually."

The general, frozen with amazement, looks to his Fire Lord for permission to continue talking. The Fire Lord nods.

"But you might only be feeling the blood of the prisoners in the dungeons, my lady. Or the water from the pipes under the palace."

"The dungeons are located east of the living quarters I'm talking about. It is Mai, I am certain. And one other person he probably hired to guard Mai's rooms. The blood flow is unfamiliar, which means I either haven't seen the person yet or something unusual is in that blood. Nevertheless, one of them is Mai."

"Are you sure, your Highness?"

"Yes. Toph recognizes voices and footsteps. Each person's blood is unique, and therefore acts just like footsteps for a bloodbender like me."

The general sits down and joins the other men in confused contemplation. Could the Fire Lord have hidden Mai underground? Is there an affair? What does it have to do with the Lady Katara going to Gaoling?

The Fire Lord stands up.

"Everyone, come with me. This mystery comes to an end now."

Chairs are scuffled as the generals forget their military manners and rush to follow the Fire Lord. Eagerness is evident.

The room is vacated by almost everyone. The Fire Lady stays.


	3. Reminder

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 3: Reminder

…

The Fire Lord is reminded of a scarred prince…

…

"You're still here."

It isn't a question. It is a statement of curiosity.

The Fire Lady blinks in response. She says nothing else.

"You don't have to leave."

A scoff.

"I'm serious. Now that my generals know the truth, I can trust them to protect you and—"

"Protect me from what, Fire Lord?"

The title is said in disgust. She continues.

"Condemnation? Humiliation? Or did you think I'd break? No thanks, Fire Lord, but I can handle myself."

"Enough of this resentment Katara! What is the problem?"

She laughs. It's almost cruel, her laughter.

"I was right, wasn't I? Mai is living under the palace."

The Fire Lord sighs disheartenedly.

"Yes."

Her resolve wavers, but just a little. The death of her mother did not break her, this in comparison is nothing. She smiles.

"I'm getting better. I might be able to defeat Toph in identification games in the future."

"Katara…"

"Listen to me Zuko. Our marriage is for the good of the nations. It is a political contract for the relations of the Fire Nation and the Tribes, and to gain the Earth Kingdom's favor."

"I know that Katara."

"We are not required to consummate our marriage. We are not required to hide the very nature of this marriage and I—"

She pauses.

"—am not required to produce your heirs."

Both are silent for a while.

"Do you remember that night, Zuko?"

He hesitates.

"What night?"

"You know very well what I'm talking about."

He breathes deeply.

"I do."

"You have just abolished the harem then, even if you knew very well that I wasn't obliged to carry your child and therefore continue your royal bloodline."

He doesn't speak.

"You told me… you told me that you would not take another woman to your bed if she wasn't your wife. You said that any child of yours would come from your wife and only your wife because she deserves that privilege and the responsibility. You vowed to me that even if we weren't in love, you would wait until I was ready and willing, if ever, to lay with you in order to give this nation an heir, or else let your heritage die with you."

"Yes, I remember."

"What was the reason you told me, Zuko? Why did you decide to be faithful, rather than be someone who sleeps with numerous beautiful women? What was that one statement you told me that justified your decision when I asked you why?"

He closes his eyes.

"It was the honorable thing to do."

She moves from her current position and walks toward the door. Halfway, she stops.

"I erased your scar and you deemed it right to repay me with one that cannot be healed. Where is your honor now, Prince Zuko?"

He opens his eyes in a snap.

With that, she continues walking and exits the throne room. The Fire Lord is reminded of a scarred prince who was nothing if not honorable.

"It's not what you think, peasant."

He breaks silently.


	4. Surprise

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 4: Surprise

…

"You surprised me…"

…

She wastes no time. She calls for Yue to come early and the moment she sees her in the sky, she is on a common ship to Gaoling. She is alone and without a crew, but she doesn't need one. No one can captain a sea vessel better than a waterbender.

* * *

><p>He rises exactly when the first inch of the sun is visible on the horizon. He descends to the common grounds and is greeted with male Kyo—<em>boys <em>scratching the backs of their heads.

He blinks in realization and nods.

* * *

><p>"You are supposed to be in the islands of the SouthEast. What are you doing in Gaoling?"<p>

A staff unfolds, two hands raise a pair of feet jump backward in surprise and defense.

She laughs and hugs the wide-eyed person.

"It's nice to see you, Aang."

Grey eyes widen even more and an exclamation erupts from his lips. He returns the hug.

"Katara! Gosh, how are you?"

"I'm fine now that I know you're not going to attack me."

He releases from the hug and scratches his nape.

"Eheh, sorry about that. You surprised me, thought you were a spy or something."

"You've been spending a lot of time with Toph I figured you'd be at least a little bit more of an alert earthbender by now."

"Oh come on, comparing my earthbending skills to Toph is a little unfair, Katara. She hasn't been teaching me as much since I came here from the islands, and that's a month ago!"

She smirks.

"So you have been spending time with her!"

He blushes hard and stammers in reply.

"N-no, I've really been meaning to go to Gaoling after the islands…"

"So the fact that Toph Bei Fong lives here didn't affect that decision in any way?"

"I-in Gaoling? N-no, I d-didn't know, a-actually, I-i…"

"Oh whatever, Avatar. Just shut up and take me to Toph."

Katara starts walking. The Avatar bangs his head on his staff.


	5. True

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 5: True

…

…as the Fire Lady wished it would be: true.

…

Two seasons have come and gone since the Fire Lady's arrival in Gaoling.

She spends her time with the Avatar and Toph, rotating between Avatar commitments, Fire Lady duties and whatever Toph wanted to do. They visit Kyoshi Island where the village is entertained by the village chief and Prince of the Southern Water Tribe being pummeled to the ground by his sister, the Fire Lady, using his wife's traditional steel fans.

They go back to Gaoling when it's time for Sokka and Suki's annual half-year stay at the South Pole.

Everything is as the Fire Lady wished it would be: true.

* * *

><p>They're swimming one day. He falls silent.<p>

She speaks.

"Tell her."

He snaps out of his reverie and turns to her.

"What do you mean, Katara?"

"Tell Toph how you feel."

He almost chokes on the seawater. He tries to recover.

"I don't understand, Katara. I—"

_Men._

"I know how you feel about our earthbender, Aang. And if I know Toph, and I do, she probably knows it too."

"What? Oh no, Katara, I—"

"Aang, Toph is the greatest, strongest earthbender there is. You're not doing yourself any favors by hiding from her what she already knows."

His gaze shifts to the earthbender making sandcastles on the beach. A child laughs in amusement at her sand sculpture of Appa.

"I can't, Katara. I mean, she's Toph! I can't. I'm not…"

He looks down at the water.

"You're not what?"

"Strong enough."

He is met by a splash of water to the face.

"Come on Aang! You're the Avatar, for crying out loud! What are you afraid of?"

He looks back to the blind earthbender who is now playing splash at the shallow waters with the bison.

"Losing her. I can't lose her. I'm not strong enough."

The waterbender hugs her friend and speaks.

"You won't lose here. You didn't lose me, right?"

He nods in understanding.

"Besides, what you felt for me was nothing more than a schoolboy crush. You love her."

He takes a breath then nods.

"You won't lose her, Aang. You won't."

He smiles.

"Thanks, Sifu Katara."

He airbends out of the water to dry off. He turns back to the waterbender before he moves.

"You know, you're not gonna lose Zuko either."

She blinks. He flies back to shore.

* * *

><p>Three quarters of a year has passed since the Fire Lady left on her forced vacation. The whole nation is preparing for the return of their beloved lady of the sea. The palace is in shambles, preparing the rooms of their queen.<p>

Meanwhile, a few miles below, a baby boy with golden eyes cries.


	6. Sorry

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 6: Sorry

…

"What are you sorry for?"

…

"What do you mean the last ship has docked?"

The ports of the Fire Nation capital have had a busy day. Because of the Fire Lady taking a commoner's ship and commandeering it on her own, the port staff had no idea which of the incoming Fire Nation ships carries the Lady. Every ship that has docked was greeted with an entourage and a black stepping velvet cloth, only to be met with surprised stares from the citizens.

The messenger trembles.

"Sire, all the Fire Nation ships have been accounted for and are now all docked at the port."

"That's impossible! The Fire Lady took a Fire Nation ship to Gaoling. Are you telling me she waterbended a ship all the way from Gaoling straight into its place in the port without any of you noticing just by standing on Gaoling's shores? My wife is very powerful, scribe, but she couldn't control the entire ocean."

The messenger gulps and tries to keep his voice from breaking.

"It might be possible, your Majesty, that she didn't take a Fire Nation ship when she left."

His eyebrow shoots up.

"And how would that be possible? She doesn't have her own vessel. All ships get marked with the Insignia. She's on a Fire Nation ship."

"Pardon my mistake, your Majesty, but I meant that she probably wasn't on a Fire Nation passenger ship. She might have ridden a fisherman's vessel, or a trader's barge. The latter passes through stocks inspection and inventory but not through passenger ports, and the previous doesn't go through any ports at all. She might've taken one of those ships, sir, and that's probably why we didn't find her down there today."

"So she's not in the Fire Nation?"

"We don't know for sure, sir."

He breathes in, breathes out.

"Thank you for the report. You're dismissed."

The man bows and exits the throne room.

* * *

><p>Another season has passed, and the Fire Nation has now been without a Fire Lady for almost a year.<p>

The Fire Lord tries not to be afraid of the possibility that she might not come back. He fails.

* * *

><p>"Katara, are you sure about this?"<p>

"Twinkles is right, Sweetness. Isn't a flying bison with the Avatar going to attract more attention that a ship containing the Fire Lady?"

She sighs.

"I know."

"So why on Earth would you want to fly back to the Fire Nation capital? I thought you didn't want to draw attention to yourself?"

She looks at her bald friend and laughs.

"I know, Toph. It's why I'm drawing attention to him."

The Avatar looks to see a finger pointed at him. He feigns offense.

"So you're going to use me as a publicity shield?"

Blind eyes gleam.

"Brilliant, Sweetness. Just brilliant."

"Why thank you, Toph."

She bows. They laugh.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry, Zuko."<p>

"What are you sorry for?"

A loud wail erupts from the bassinet in the corner. She picks up the crying babe and coos.

"Do I really need to tell you?

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is."

He looks at her. She holds his gaze.

"When have you ever been so self-loathing? It's not your fault. A lot of things are, but this isn't one of them."

Her gaze shifts.

"It's called not being an idiot. The Fire Lady left you for a reason, and we all know it's me."

He sighs. He's been doing that a lot lately.

"It's not your fault. What happened was not your fault. This baby is not your fault and the baby itself is not a fault. Stop saying otherwise."

He looks to the side.

"And Katara did not leave me. She she's in a lifelong commitment and she won't try running away from that. She's too honorable."

She follows the path of his sight and pretends to see something interesting. It doesn't help alleviate the tension.

"You are an honorable person, right, Zuko? You are honorable, yet you are hiding our little situation from the Fire Lady. You are honorable, yet you are risking the confidence of the Earth Kingdom and the respect of the Water Tribes just to keep this little conspiracy of ours afloat. You are honorable yet—"

He interrupts.

"I am not doing this because I want to deceive Katara, you know that. I am not doing this because of some sort of plan to wreck anything I've worked hard for, everything everyone's worked hard for! I'm doing this because… because I need to. I need this."

She turns her usually narrowed eyes, now widened, to the man in front of her. Emotions reveal themselves in her orbs like they never really did before.

"W-what do you mean?"

He stays silent.

"Zuko… Zuko I—"

"I feel like I owe this to you. You deserved me, I've never really been there for you before. And I'm sorry."

She manages to compose herself. She says nothing.

"I was supposed to take care of you. We've spent basically our whole lives together, but I was too… preoccupied with myself that I didn't realize that you… you needed me. And it's my fault, ultimately my fault, that you're in this situation now."

She smiles a sad smile.

"Come now, Zuko. Do not go all solemn on me. It's making me uncomfortable."

She fakes a laugh to lighten the mood. It doesn't.

"It's not your fault."

"Oh, so it's not my fault that I got pregnant, Zuko? Can you stop being so naïve? Taking all the blame unjustly will not make it true, nor will it make everything peachy. Grow up, Fire Lord."

She turns to place the boy back in his cradle.

"Well, your Majesty, if it's alright, I would like to retire to my room now."

He smiles.

"You know, you're royalty too. After all, you're the mother to the current heir to the throne."

She smiles.

"I guess so. Goodnight, Zuko."

She walks away. He speaks.

"Hey."

She stops.

"Yes?"

"I did love you. Back then. I really did."

She says nothing.

"I probably still do."

She walks away.


	7. Falling

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 7: Falling

…

In air, she just falls.

…

"Hey! How come you never airbend me from Appa to the waters below when we're travelling? I can just hear Sweetness swimming the time of her life down there."

The Avatar makes a weird face.

"Uh, Toph? You hate water."

"I don't hate water, Twinkles. I've been learning how to swim by listening to the water pulses hitting my skin. I'm still new to it, of course, but I'm making progress. Wanna see?"

"Toph, wha—"

The blind earthbender jumps from the bison. Just as he was for a hundred years, the Avatar is frozen.

* * *

><p>She's falling. Free-falling.<p>

Water below, air around, fire in her veins. Her dear element has abandoned her _or she, it_, and she's never been more terrified.

_Stupid! Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

She didn't lie, though. She was indeed learning how to swim, but she wasn't lying about her being a beginner either.

_Idiot. I'm an idiot._

She has already fallen a long way, and a long way more she has to fall. Being blind, she has no idea of this, and free-falling for more than a few seconds makes her feel like she's suspended in this cold, earthless, spineless, foundation-less cruelty.

Air.

She wishes for the water to hit her now. At least there, she floats. In air, she just falls.

* * *

><p>Katara looks up to see a speck in the sky plummeting downwards. She realizes that it was her sightless, staffless friend and immediately prepares to send a water column to catch her.<p>

She stops and stares.

A long straight _something_ appears from seemingly nowhere. Another speck follows it.

She smiles. Her friend is safe.

* * *

><p>He found out he was the Avatar at age twelve, he woke up to discover that he was quite literally alone with no family to go home to, he faced the most ruthless dictator ever before he even was a fully-realized Avatar.<p>

And yet he can say he has never been more terrified.

_Move!_

He doesn't need to tell himself twice. He throws his staff into the sky and dives in after it.

He's genuinely extremely grateful that he holds command of the air around them. Extremely, extremely grateful.

* * *

><p>The singular sign of an impending tear has found its way to her unseeing eyes like the first dew forms on a lone blade of grass. She denies it freedom.<p>

_Crying is for wimps, Bei Fong._

She wonders where the ocean has gone. She's supposed to be sensing, or trying to sense where Katara is now so she could swim to her and hold on. But no.

She was still falling.

She calls to the water.

"Hit me! Hit me now! Where are you, oh vast sea of sissy water? Hit me!"

And something did.

It collides with her from her side and takes her on a new trajectory. Despite being the most hug-impaired person on the planet, she wraps her arms and legs around the flying object and holds on for dear life.

"Toph! Are you crazy?"

She stiffens.

_Twinkles?_

"Why would you do that? You could have died, you know that?"

"Oh come one Twinkletoes. Water is soft. I don't think I would've died on impact. Besides, Sweetness is down there and I don't think she would've let me drown."

He sighs exasperatedly.

"Would you stop being so reckless for once? Do you even think about things before you do them?"

"Don't be so dramatic, Twinkles."

"You are so inconsiderate! Don't you even realize that there are people who are going to be hurt when you do that?"

"Oh, so now I'm the fragile blind girl again."

He lets out a small scream.

"No, you're the earthbender who knows neither flying nor swimming! You're too ungrateful Toph! I just saved you and now—"

"Saved me?"

"Yes! I saved you because you were helpless out here and I—"

"Helpless? Alright that's it."

She ignores her fear of falling again and lets go.

This time, she hits the water fast.

"Toph!"

* * *

><p>"Thanks for helping me, Sweetness."<p>

Katara looks at her friend and sighs.

"You know it's no problem Toph. But why did I have to? I thought Aang had you?"

"He's annoying."

Katara ignores her.

"And what were you doing jumping off Appa? I know you're strong Toph, but you're not a bird nor a fish and you rely heavily on having something to step on."

"I wanted to swim, okay? And fly. And do things you guys can do!"

"What are you talking about? You're the greatest earthbender in the history of anything and here you're saying you wanna do things like we do?"

"Not entirely. It's just that, anyone steps all over earth. You just step on it and walk. Airbenders fly, waterbenders breathe underwater, firbenders—"

"You're not going to try and set yourself on fire, are you?"

"I was gonna say they have that mysterious inner fire thing going on, but thanks for the idea, Sweetness."

"Oh Toph. You poor little confused thing."


	8. Thoughts

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 8: Thoughts

…

"…what you're thinking, it might be wrong."

…

"Fire Lord, a sky bison has been sighted approaching the capital. What should be our course of action, sire?"

_Aang._

"Welcome them. The Avatar is here."

* * *

><p>The capital throws itself into its own excitement, the popularity of the Avatar skyrocketing upward since the defeat of the previous Fire Lord. Little girls are looking forward to seeing the airbender fly and do tricks and basically show-off, and the most muscular men in the capital are hoping to catch sight of the earthbender that brought them to their knees in sparring the last time she was here.<p>

Only one person realizes that the most important female in the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes is also aboard that bison, and he runs his hand across his crown-clad hair.

* * *

><p>The celebrations are going on in the palace grounds, which to Katara, seemed absurd since there was nothing to celebrate about people visiting a foreign country.<p>

Given, those people are the Avatar and the greatest earthbender in the world, _and the Fire Lady, but they didn't know that._

The giant bison is led to the palace stables built especially for when the Avatar visits the capital. She waits for the royal servants to leave before she peeks her head over Appa's saddle. Bending the water from the humid air, she freezes them to form a makeshift ladder going down that bison's midsection. She dusts herself off and makes her way toward the back doors.

"What, no greeting for your husband?"

She freezes. She didn't sense his blood approaching!

He smirks.

"I know how to slow down my heartbeat, Katara. Firebenders are more in control of their bodies' functions, considering our fire comes from within."

She mentally slaps herself. She knows she sensed water nearby, but it wasn't rushing strong enough to qualify as living thing in her mind. She's floored, but she talks anyway.

"What are you doing here, Fire Lord? Aren't you supposed to be greeting the Avatar outside?"

"I figured you were going to hide on Aang's bison when you landed."

"How?"

"Since you decided not to take a Fire Nation Imperial ship, or even a common passenger one, I knew you didn't want to be noticed when you came back. When the bison came flying, it wasn't hard to deduce what you planned on hiding in."

She curses his military instincts. He scoffs.

"What about you, Fire Lady? Aren't you supposed to be by my throne almost two seasons ago?"

She's silent.

"The understanding was that you come back after two hundred seventy-five moons, Katara. What were you thinking? Did you think you had a lot of free vacation time? You're the Fire Lady, damn it!"

She raises her voice to match his.

"I didn't even want to go on vacation! You forced me! You forced me because you thought I was too weak to handle the truth!"

"Katara…"

She calms herself down.

"Which is why I took a vacation on my terms. My own departure, my own itinerary, my own arrival. I repeat, I am not under your jurisdiction as Fire Lord and your protection as a husband. I am, however, here for cooperation as is the very nature of our relationship, thus I decided to take my own vacation so you can settle whatever it was you needed to."

"You have a responsibility here, Katara."

"While I was gone, I did my duties as a Fire Lady in the Earth Kingdom. I did not forget the bounds of our contract just because you did, Zuko."

Zuko takes a step forward.

"Katara, what you're thinking, it might be wrong."

She scoffs.

"Oh, but isn't having Mai live under the palace and keeping it a secret bad enough in itself? I am the Fire Lady, and I deserved to know."

"Katara…"

She faces him.

"Where is he?"

Confusion.

"Who?"

"The baby, Zuko. Where is he?"

His eyes widen.

"How… how did you know?"

A glimpse of betrayal flashes, as if it doubted what she's already known for a long time. It leaves as soon as it comes.

"There is another blood rushing down there. I told you that. Besides, sending me away for three trimesters made it painfully obvious."

"Katara…"

"I will love him, you know."

She turns away. He takes another step forward. She continues.

"Even if he isn't mine, I will love him. His blood isn't from my veins, but I can also be a mother to him whenever his mother allows me to. He will be the heir to the throne in the absence of a legitimate crown prince or princess, and because of what happened, I think it'll stay that way. But I'll love him. I've always wanted a child, and he's the closest thing to one that I've got."

He closes his eyes and tries his absolute best to not let go of the tears inside.

"Katara, I don't know what to say. I—"

"Don't say anything. It is my duty as Fire Lady to take care of the royal children. I stay true to the contract."

"I did not violate any written contract, Katara! Believe me!"

She walks away.

"Written contract, no, you didn't."

"What does that mean? Wait, Katara—"

She does not listen. She's on her way to her quarters when she can't help the tears anymore. They fall.

* * *

><p>"What's up with you Twinkletoes? You've been ignoring me all day!"<p>

A little of his childish antics resurfaces as he turns toward the girl.

"Well why do you care?"

He airbends himself to a tree brance. She shouts.

"What's your problem?"

He says nothing.

"You still mad that I didn't say thank you? Fine! Thank you for saving me, oh almighty Avatar!"

"You don't get it, Toph!

"What? I don't get what, Aang? Come on, tell me!"

"That you can't do those things thinking that no one will get hurt! You can't do dangerous things alone, Toph! You just can't!"

"And why can't I, huh? Just tell me!"

"What if I wasn't an airbender, Toph? What if Katara wasn't a waterbender? You jump without realizing that you're forcing people to jump in after you!"

She summons her loudest voice.

"I jumped exactly because I wanted you to jump in after me!"

Silence. Her voice weakens.

"I was jealous. So jealous of the whole damn world. You saved it not just because it was in trouble, you saved it because it was important to you. And don't get me wrong, it is, but I was jealous because no one has ever saved me because I was too important to lose. They always protect me because of reasons like my being blind, or my being little, or my being helpless. And I didn't, I don't, need any saving. But it's nice to know that someone wants to, even if I'm fully capable of saving myself."

He turns to her direction.

"Toph…"

"And then you came, and I wondered whether I can be important enough for you to want to protect me even if I didn't need you to. Whether I can be as important to you… as you are to me."

"To—"

Her voice loudens.

"Then you saved me knowing that I knew how to swim a little and that Katara was down there, and I was so overcome with happiness that I didn't care that you were shouting at me! But then you had to say that you helped me because I was helpless, HELPLESS, and I knew there and then that things can get broken without impact, because there I was flying like a bird yet it felt like my heart got loose and crashed."

To say the Avatar was shocked is an understatement. He stands at his tree branch staring at the woman on the ground, her pale, sightless eyes seemingly brought to life by the gleam of the moon. He prepares to airbend himself to her when she stops him.

"Stay there. Just… just forget what I said."

She does something she's never done before. She runs away.


	9. Paternal

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 9: Paternal

…

"Because you _are_ his father!"

…

Two moons pass and the Fire Lord and Lady are civil. They talk when needed, smile when needed, support each other when needed. In other words, a semblance of normalcy is formed.

She is in her quarters, ready to retire for the night. He maid comes in.

"My lady, the Fire Lord wishes for your presence."

"I'll be in the throne room in a few minutes, Ling. Thank you."

"The Fire Lord is in his chambers, your Highness. Goodnight."

* * *

><p>"You called for me, Fire Lord?"<p>

Her head is bowed not from respect but from the sheer awkwardness of being in a man's bedroom.

"Zuko?"

A voice comes from the balcony.

"In here."

"Why do you keep on slowing your heart? I can't sense you if—"

She falls silent and stares at the infant in Zuko's arms.

"Katara, this is Zul. Zul, this is Fire Lady Katara."

She peers into his gentle little face and smiles.

"He's beautiful."

Zuko smiles but stays silent.

"He has your eyes."

"Well, that was bound to happen, Katara."

His words were harmless, yet it hurt more than it should to hear them.

He stares at the stars.

"I hope uncle gets my message fast. He'll be ecstatic to meet his first grandnephew."

"Of course he will. Uncle Iroh loves children."

"I know. I just hope I can be as good an uncle to Zul as Uncle was to me."

She spins her head so abruptly she thinks she could have bloodbended herself.

"What?"

Zuko looks at her, confusion etched in his face.

"What 'what'?"

"An uncle to Zul? Why would you be an uncle to Zul? Don't you want to be a father to him?"

"Why would I want that?"

She stares at him like he has sprouted another topknot.

"Because you _are_ his father!"

"WHAT?"

Zul starts crying loudly after being startled. The Fire Lady's maternal instincts take over as she takes Zul from Zuko's arms. The babe calms down after a few seconds of Katara's lullaby.

Zuko, still mesmerized at his wife's nurturing abilities, stares quietly, a feeling of premonition come over him.

Katara speaks gently.

"Zuko, who are Zul's parents?"

He inhales.


	10. Importance

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 10: Importance

…

"Katara, this is important. Please."

…

_/_

_Previously…_

Katara speaks gently.

"Zuko, who are Zul's parents?"

He inhales.

_/_

* * *

><p>"A few years ago, we were hiring people who can try to nurse Azula back to sanity, you know, minus the whole evil, take-over-the-world part. A particular young man, Tien, from one of the colonies, was progressing smoothly with his therapies with Azula. She wasn't throwing tantrums anymore. She was calm, still a little incoherent, but she wasn't burning everything in sight."<p>

She nods. He continues.

"After a few months, she was laughing randomly, eating a lot. We thought we were seeing major improvements in her. We were wrong."

She looks at him.

"It turns out, he was drugging her. She's been having hallucinations and we didn't know."

She gasps.

"How did you find out?"

He closes his eyes.

"She started talking to our mother like she was right there in front of her. We thought it was just some of her 'crazy' left over. Then I heard her tell our mom that she'd 'surrender' herself to Tien if that was what she really wanted. I was nervous the whole day, so I went to her cell after my duties that evening. She… she was…"

He punches the railing. Zul wakes.

"Katara, please give Zul to the nanny. He needs to go back to his mother now."

She understands.

"Alright. Hang on."

She leaves the balcony and returns a few minutes later.

"Zuko?"

He's crying.

"Zuko! Are you alright?"

"She was naked, Katara! She was naked, and crying, and broken! That bastard raped her!"

Her left hand flies to her mouth mid-gasp.

"Oh Zuko…"

"In my own home, Katara! I am the Fire Lord, and I couldn't protect my own sister in my own palace! Sure she was bad and she tried to kill me lots of times, but she's my sister! She's my little sister, Katara…"

She puts her hand on his shoulder. More tears flow.

"When we were little, Azula was infinitely better that I am in firebending. She produced blue fire before I could even make a small orange flame. I was bigger, taller, stronger than her, yet I always end up on my butt in the first thirty seconds of sparring with her."

She rubs.

"One day, our mom asked us to do a Fire Nation dance depicting a spar between the morning and afternoon suns during noon. We had to do this thing at the middle where we had to imitate the rising and setting of the suns. So we had to use firebending to lift and lower ourselves around each other. Azula had the move perfected. I couldn't even lift myself an inch from the ground. The day of the performance, family and political allies were there to watch a small dinner number by the royal children. I wasn't eating out of nervousness, sweating like crazy. I didn't want dinner to finish, I was gonna embarrass myself so much, it wasn't funny."

She listens.

"As the servants were clearing the table, I was just about to faint. Suddenly, a burning smell filled the room. We searched and saw that a blue flame was consuming our aunt's hair up to the shoulder. Dinner was cut short. Azula got five lashes and a ban from firebending for a month."

She speaks.

"Really?"

His throat constricts from silent sobs. He nods.

"Zuko…I'm—"

"Azula isn't the most compassionate person, nor does she care about me that much. But she found a way to protect me that single time. And at her own expense. She deserved the same."

Katara inhales. Zuko calms down.

"We caught the guy, but he took his own life with a dagger before we sent out his verdict. A couple of weeks later, the physician confirmed what we already knew. She was pregnant. That was a year and a season ago."

Her eyes widen.

"That was when you… sent me away."

"The person who abused my sister passed effortlessly unnoticed in the safest palace in the world. He abused my sister single-handedly. My sister, Azula, the prodigy. Once the most feared person on the planet, even more so than our father. And he broke her."

"Zuko…"

"I can't risk that happening to you."

She looks down.

"I had that house built underground so that Azula can raise her child. She saw her little boy for the first time, and the haze from her eyes cleared. I knew she deserves to be with her son, and no child deserves to grow up in a prison cell. Mai is there, I asked her to help Azula get back on her feet."

She doesn't look up.

"I didn't cheat on you, Katara. But you were right, you deserve to know anything and everything that happens here. It was an insult to keep secrets from you, if not because you're the Fire Lady, then it's because you're my w—, I mean, we're married, and the responsibility of running this country lies on both of us. So for that I'm sorry."

She summons courage to look him in the eye and smile.

"I understand, Zuko. I can't say I completely understand the keeping secrets part, but I know you had a reason and I can only imagine how hard it is for you…"

"Thank you, Katara…"

He hugs her for the first time since his coronation. She returns it and smiles at him when it ends.

"I guess I'll be going back to my quarters now. Thank you for being honest with me, Zuko. I appreciate it. Goodnight."

He nods in reply and stares out to the night sky. She walks toward the balcony door.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else."

"I'm sure it can wait a few hours, Zuko. I'll talk to you first thing in the morning."

She continues walking. She stops.

A hand is holding her wrist back.

"Katara, this is important. Please."

She hides her sigh. He hears. She pulls her arm back gently and faces him.

"Sure."

She takes her previous place next to Zuko at the balcony's edge. The air seemed to transform from tense to just plain awkward.

Not a sound is heard. A cricket announces its presence.

"Zuko?"

He takes life.

"Yes?"

"You said you needed to tell me something."

He loses life.

"Ah yes… Yes I did."

"And…?"

He clears his throat.

"How… how was Gaoling?"

He feels reduced when his wife looks at him with disbelief.

"I mean, Gaoling is… it's a beautiful place and… you know—"

"Zuko, spit it out!"

"I missed you, okay? When you left without saying goodbye, I felt a little sad but I thought it was just disappointment. A week without you and the palace already seemed smaller. A month and I've caught myself looking at the moon chart a little too often. When Zul was born, I thought of how much better it would have been if my waterbending wife were right there with us. The morning of your supposed arrival I was so restless I woke up three hours before the sun even appeared on the horizon. When you didn't appear that day, I was so worried I wanted to lead my fleet to Gaoling. I can't even explain how I felt when I realized the possibility of you not coming back. I couldn't accept it. I mean, I knew you wouldn't run away, but I felt as if I was stuck in a corner thinking if I was bad enough that you would run away from me."

"Zuko… what are you trying to say?"

Firebenders drew strength from their breath. He inhales.

"I told you that I couldn't risk losing you. I meant it, Katara. I hope you understand that."

"I'm the Fire Lady, Zuko. I know why you can't lose me, don't worry."

He gestures exaggeratedly with his hands as he speaks.

"That's just it, Katara! I'm not scared of losing the Fire Lady. I'm scared of losing you."

Stunned. He continues.

"Stay with me. Forever, Katara, please."

"Of course I will. I signed a contract, remember? I'll be with you forever Zuko."

"Not like that, Katara."

He takes hold of both her hands. She looks down and stares at them, trying desperately to stop her blood from rushing to her face.

"Look at me, Katara."

She's a brave person. She does.

His eyes are burning into hers and somehow she can feel it in her knees.

He takes his time, savoring the opportunity to be so close to this amazing woman.

He inhales, but he keeps golden locked on to blue.

"I love you."

Her eyes widen and she breaks his gaze.

"Zuko… I want to go now. I'm sorry."

Her form disappears even faster than she planned it to.

He hears the door shut close. His heart breaks.

* * *

><p>Division presents itself in the palace during the Avatar's visit. It feels as if the genders placement has resurrected itself, as evidenced by the four most prominent characters in the Fire Palace.<p>

The graceful waterbending Fire Lady spends her days sparring with the solid Master Toph, training with Fire Nation's elite soldiers, helping in the construction of developmental structures in the capital. Neither seemed to spend that much time inside palace walls.

Conversely, the Lord of the Fire Nation is often seen with the Master of the Four Elements, bent over books, meditating, or talking quietly over tea and biscuits. By comparison, neither has gone outside the gates for more than five candle marks at a time.

The palace staff starts to get worried. It's as if… they're avoiding each other. They can only wonder why.


	11. Response

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 11: Response

…

"You can't respond to him if you don't allow him to respond to your call first."

…

_/_

_Previously…_

To say the Avatar was shocked is an understatement. He stands at his tree branch staring at the woman on the ground, her pale, sightless eyes seemingly brought to life by the gleam of the moon. He prepares to airbend himself to her when she stops him.

"Stay there. Just… just forget what I said."

She does something she's never done before. She runs away.

_/_

* * *

><p>Seven moons have passed since the Fire Lord revealed his affections to the Fire Lady. And seven moons have passed since a spoken word from one was directed to the other. On the other hand, the Avatar was taking every chance to talk to the master earthbender, who was pretending to be deaf rather than blind.<p>

* * *

><p>"Katara! I—"<p>

The monk looks at his friend from head to toe and continues.

"What happened to you?"

She sighs.

"I can control mud, but so can Toph. We were sparring and I got distracted. Hence, my need for a bath."

His eyebrows meet.

"That's weird. You don't get distracted that much. What happened?"

Like she was going to tell him that she got distracted by what she thought was a flash of gold passing by. Fat chance.

"Nothing. Just remembered I had a meeting today…"

_Ask about him!_

"…and I'm supposed to meet with Northern Water Tribe dignitaries and…"

"Oh yeah! Zuko mentioned that to me yesterday!"

"Really?"

_Ask about him now!_

"Speaking of, how is Zuko? I haven't seen him much this past week…"

An eyebrow rises.

"You're married to the guy, Katara."

"I know, but we've been busy and…"

"You know that's an excuse, right?"

She gives him a scolding look. He laughs nervously.

"Zuko's fine. He's quiet, but then again he always is. He meditates a lot lately. I think he just went to the courtyard to train."

She tries to act nonchalant. The Avatar buys it.

"Oh. Alright. I'll be on my way now, then. Really need that bath."

He smiles and nods. She continues walking.

"By the way, where did you say Toph was?"

She smirks.

"I didn't."

"Katara…"

She laughs.

"She's by the pond. I think she's either still training or trying to scare the turtleducks."

The Avatar speaks all too quickly.

"Turtleducks? Better go now! Gotta save those turtleducks!"

He runs. She shouts after him.

"Saving the turtleducks? Is that the new way to say 'wooing Toph'?"

He looks back to her and sticks his tongue out. She clicks hers.

"Turtleduck… Hmm, I think Toph would just love that nickname."

She hears a slight "shut up, Katara!" followed by a strong gust of wind. She chuckles and continues to her quarters, her stride a step and half quicker.

* * *

><p>The Fire Lady had been right. What she saw was in fact, a flash of gold. Specifically, the fire crown on top of a sprinting Fire Lord. He had been making his way to the courtyard from a long meeting when he saw splatters of mud on the pathway. Suffice to say he didn't want to confront the waterbender after what happened, which led to him running as fast as he could without being noticed. He turned a corner before braving a peek to see the waterbender walking away, leaving the earthbender behind.<p>

She speaks.

"You know I can sense you, right?"

He walks into the clearing.

"I forgot."

"You were sprinting a while ago like you're being chased by giant flying lemurs."

He sounds indignant.

"I wouldn't run away from lemurs!"

She giggles.

"Whatever you say, Sifu Hotman."

He calms down.

"You sound like Aang."

She opens her mouth then closes it. He knows he has struck a nerve.

"Did anything happen between you and the Avatar, Toph?"

Keeping her sarcasm alive, she speaks.

"Not much. Pretty much just poured my weak, sissy heart out to him."

His eyes widen.

"Really? I did too."

"Yeah, but mine wasn't obvious. Everyone knows you are smitten with Madame Fussybritches."

He looks at her.

"What did Aang say?"

"Nothing. I didn't let him say anything."

"Why not?"

She sits down.

"Well, if he wasn't too much of a girl then maybe he would've still said something."

"Maybe you don't realize how scary you are, Toph. I mean, Aang must have been too terrified to speak."

She ignores him.

"How 'bout you? You said you confessed to Caramelqueen. What'd she say?"

"She said… Wait. Caramelqueen?"

She shrugs.

"I used to call her Sugarqueen, but then she became Fire Lady and I immediately thought of changing that name. Firesugarqueen seemed a little too forced for my taster. Then she showed up in Gaoling smelling a little burnt—"

"Burnt? BURNT? She was injured? You should've sent me a hawk! It might've been fatal, Toph!"

"She's a healer, Fire Lord. Besides, it wasn't even a real burn. It was just something on the outside. Sort of like an extremely thin layer of irritation, like she's been in proximity to but not in contact with something really hot, like blue fire, or…"

"Amplified fire. One of a Fire Lord's. I must have harmed her in the throne room without my knowing. I'm such an idiot."

She raises her hand. The Fire Lord is thrown ten feet into the air by an unexpected rock pillar. He drops back down on the exact sport he was seconds before.

"There, now you guys are even."

He groans.

"Toph…"

"As I was saying, she smelled a little burnt and suddenly I realized, burnt sugar! She's caramel!"

He groans again. She laughs.

"It's perfect! Her position in the Fire Nation, her disposition, even her skin!"

He smiles, but just a little.

"I guess it does seem appropriate."

She nods in approval.

"So what did she say to you?"

"She told me she wanted to go, and then she did."

He tries to act nonchalant. She doesn't buy it.

They stay silent until he speaks.

"Can I offer you my advice, Toph?"

She smiles.

"You must at least have a little bit of Iroh in you, so go ahead."

"Give the Avatar a chance to express himself. He may not be the most articulate, but he can tell you what you need to hear. Painful or not, you're going to hear what you need to."

She turns toward the sky and feels the wind. She says nothing.

"Did you know that turtleducks are born blind?"

She turns back to him and leans her head to the side as a question.

"Yes, they are. They are born blind, but they learn to be extremely familiar with the surroundings, with themselves. They learn how to see. Every now and then, you see one that steps foot in unfamiliar places, but you never see them afraid. They call out and someone, sometimes their mother, other times their mate, calls back. They don't just find their way back to the comfortable, they find a way to make the foreign comfortable."

She starts playing with the ground. She remains silent.

"You can't respond to him if you don't allow him to respond to your call first."

He stands up.

"I have to go now, Toph. I've been itching to train this whole week."

He walks.

"Thanks, Iroh."

He smiles to himself.

"Anytime, Turtleduck."

She closes her sightless eyes and nods. He quickens his pace.

He hears her scream.

"What did you just call me?"

* * *

><p>He watches her on his air scooter.<p>

"You're an even bigger idiot than I thought if you think I can't sense you."

He sighs and dismounts.

"Toph, can I please talk to you?"

She fakes a smile.

"Twinkles, it's fine. We're good. I just needed a couple of days to blow off steam, and now I'm fine. Seriously—"

Aang feels a sensation in the tips of his toes.

"I'm fine."

There it is again. It appears on his fingers, like he was bending subconsciously.

"Are you sure, Toph? You seemed pretty upset when you—"

She snaps.

"I said I'm fine, okay? Don't flatter yourself too much, Avatar."

He snaps too.

"You know what, Master Toph? If you get down from that high ostrich-horse of yours you might realize how much of a brat you're acting now."

She narrows her eyes and faces him.

"A brat?"

"Yes! A brat! You won't listen, even though you expect people to listen to you!"

She grits her teeth.

"Now look here, you arrogant little Avatar—"

"I'm arrogant? Look at yourself Toph! I've been trying to talk to you everyday for the past week and you act as if you don't even know me! You think you're so strong running away from this, but you're not! You're weak, and you're deluding yourself if you think you're dealing with this well. The way you you're evading this problem, the way you don't stand your ground against me, you… You…"

_Don't say it, Aang._

But he ignores himself.

"You don't deserve to be an earthbender!"

The leaves stop swaying from the wind. A tear falls to the ground.

His eyes widen.

She walks toward him, _head-on_ and pushes him aside with one arm, not even stopping to do so. By the time she reaches her room, she feels dehydrated. Tears were formally her body's water, after all.

It was always like this. In air, she just falls.


	12. White

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 12: White

…

Blinding white fire emerges.

…

_/_

_Previously…_

He inhales, but he keeps golden locked on to blue.

"I love you."

Her eyes widen and she breaks his gaze.

_/_

* * *

><p><em>Beautiful<em>.

The Fire Lady watches as the Fire Lord produces white fire, something he learned to produce by harnessing the power of lightning before it takes shape, and forming it to fire. Beautiful white fire.

He uses both waterbending and firebending for the move. Her heart swells with pride.

He doesn't notice her presence, and for that she is both grateful and annoyed. She would have to speak to get noticed, but she doesn't know what to say.

So she watches a powerful bender make magic instead.

* * *

><p>"<em>I love you."<em>

His own voice haunts him. How could he have been so stupid?

"_I love you."_

His orange flames burn hotter.

"_I missed you, okay?"_

It turns blue now. He's sweating, but it evaporates as quickly as it appears.

"_I can't risk losing you."_

He feels his chi expanding to accommodate the immense power he was about to call on.

"_I love you."_

The unseen, raw power of lightning gathers around him.

"_I love you."_

He allows it to pass back and forth from one fingertip to the other, allows it to mingle with his inner fire.

"_I love you."_

He shifts to a firebending stance.

_Fool!_

He firebends. Blinding white fire emerges.

He calms himself and starts commanding, almost playing with, the white burning combustion he has only discovered how to produce a year and a half ago.

He wonders if his father, who ignored his being normal in the presence of his blue fire-wielding prodigy of a sister, would be proud, impressed at least, that he was able to make himself a master instead of being born with the privilege to be one. He thinks of Azula, and wonders if he should teach Zul the art of colorless fire.

He wonders if his mother, his beloved mother, feels the warmth of his fire from where she is, be it in the other end of the planet, or somewhere in the Spirit world. He hopes she does.

He thinks of Katara. Would she be impressed?

He scoffs.

_What, enough to love me back?_

He allows himself the luxury to dream of a child, an heir with blue eyes. Would she allow him to teach the prince, or princess, how to make the hottest fire there is?

He shakes his head. An heir from him would be impossible, for the only woman deserving of the right to bear and raise one probably hates him right now.

_Can she… can she feel it?_

He's not sure if he's talking about his fire or something else. He extinguishes all but a small flame.

Whatever it may be, he hopes she feels warm.


	13. Sincerity

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 13: Sincerity

…

Normal people look into eyes for sincerity. She thinks this is way better.

…

_/_

_Previously…_

"I'm arrogant? Look at yourself Toph! I've been trying to talk to you everyday for the past week and you act as if you don't even know me! You think you're so strong running away from this, but you're not! You're weak, and you're deluding yourself if you think you're dealing with this well. The way you you're evading this problem, the way you don't stand your ground against me, you… You…"

_Don't say it, Aang._

But he ignores himself.

"You don't deserve to be an earthbender!"

_/_

* * *

><p>"Toph!"<p>

_No._

"Toph, come on, open the door. I'm sorry!"

"Go away."

He knocks louder.

"Toph, I'm sorry! Please!"

"Go away."

"I didn't mean it! I was just mad, and confused, and an idiot! Please Toph, listen to me!"

"No."

He sinks to his knees.

"Please Toph. I can't do this anymore."

"Then stand up, and walk away."

A sniff.

"No. I can't do this anymore. I can't have you hating me, please Toph, I can't."

She says nothing.

"Please! Please Toph… I need you to forgive me. I need you to know how I feel. Please…"

He rests his head against her door.

She speaks quietly.

"I don't care how you feel."

There's that feeling again. At the edge of his toes, on his fingertips. He wonders.

"Toph, give me a chance. I'm begging you. I need you to be near me, next to me, when I say what I need to say. I'm hurting here Toph, and I know you are too. Please, let me make it alright."

"I'm not hurting."

The feeling intensifies. He realizes why.

"You're lying."

Silence. She freezes.

"Toph?"

"What did you say?"

He inhales.

"I said you're lying. I know."

"How?"

She demands to know how he has managed to do the one thing she needed him not to.

"I'm an earthbender too, Toph."

"What?"

"I'm an earthbender too, just like you."

"Oh, so now I deserve to be an earthbender again? What makes you think you deserve to be one?"

The Avatar sighs.

"I'm sorry, Toph. I really am. Please don't shut me out. I need to be in your life and I need you to be in mine. Please Toph. Forgive me."

_He's responding._

"Toph, please…I beg of you, please…"

"_You can't respond to him if you don't allow him to respond to your call first."_

"Toph…"

She opens the door with her earthbending.

He leaps to the middle of the room and immediately envelopes her in a hug. Her shoulder moistens with his tears.

"Toph, I'm so sorry. I'm so so sorry. I didn't mean it. You deserve to be an earthbender more than anyone. Please forgive me…"

She neither returns the hug nor breaks it.

"You know you could have just gone all Avatar on the door."

"I wanted you to let me in because you wanted to."

She breaks it.

"And I did that for a reason. Start talking."

He wipes his tears, hearing Toph call him a sissy before he speaks.

"I was surprised, Toph."

She vows to let him finish. Zuko gave some good advice.

"You, the strongest earthbender ever, jumped so you could be saved. When you told me, I couldn't believe it."

She is silent.

"When you jumped, I was so incredibly scared. Like I wasn't an airbender and I was alone without Appa. I was frozen, I didn't know what to do. You weren't helpless that day, Toph. I was."

She manages to whisper.

"Why?"

"Because you were in trouble, that's why! I know you could probably find a way to bend the sand floating around in the water, and I knew Katara was there and there was almost no danger of you drowning, but I didn't care. All I cared about was that in every scenario there was always the possibility of an accident, and I couldn't risk that. Not with you."

Her pulse quickens.

"Aang…"

"I couldn't lose you Toph. Too important."

She turns away.

"You'd do the same for anyone."

He sighs, and walks a few steps back.

"You're right, I would have."

A piece of her heart chips off.

"But no one can ever make me feel helpless the way you do, Toph."

She doesn't know what to say.

"When I said that you didn't realize somebody was gonna get hurt, I wasn't really talking about you. I was talking about me."

"Huh?"

"Yes, me. I was hurt, Toph, that you didn't care if you worried me like crazy. I was hurt that you continuously risk your life doing dangerous things without realizing that I need you to live more than you do."

Overwhelmed.

"I am the Avatar. I control all four elements, and I bend energy, something only I have been able to do. Whenever someone's in trouble I get worried, yes, but I'd act because I can do something to save them from whatever it is they need saving from. But whenever you're in trouble Toph, I feel like I'm stripped of all my powers and it doesn't even matter. All that matters is that you're safe, and I would give my life to ensure that, even if all you're actually risking to get is a slight cold."

"Aang, are you…?"

He runs his hand across his bald head.

"I don't save you, or want to save you, because you're helpless, Toph. I try my best to be with you all the time, to protect you all the time, because I'm helpless without you."

Really, really overwhelmed.

"I know you might want the mighty Avatar that uses everything at his disposal to make sure you're safe because you're too important to him, but he comes with the helpless little fancy dancer who'd risk his life without hesitation if so much as a lemur threatens to annoy you to death because he's just too helpless against his own will to stop himself."

He walks cautiously to her.

"Is both alright with you?"

_Yes!_

She hesitates to give her approval.

"Because I can only give you both, Toph. Not one or the other. Both. If you'd accept me."

She breaks and runs straight into him.

"Of course you dumb oaf! I just wanted you to say that willingly, and not just because I already know."

He scratches his nape then laughs nervously.

"I know, but you really scare me. I just didn't have strength at the time."

She says nothing, but remains stuck to him, her head resting on his collarbone.

He comes to his senses and hugs back. Tightly.

"Say you forgive me, Toph. Please."

"I forgive you, Aang. You didn't really need it, though."

He smiles.

"Yes I did."

They spend a few minutes holding each other when Toph murmurs.

"Aren't you supposed to tell me something like, right now?"

He laughs quietly against her hair. He teases.

"I thought you already knew?"

He gets pushed. Toph is already stomping toward the door when the airbender flies in front of her, grabs her wrist and pulls her close. He puts her hand on his chest, right above where his heart is, and puts his lips next to her ear.

"I love you, Toph."

Normal people look into eyes for sincerity. She thinks this is way better.

"Really, I do."

The intensity of his voice makes her blush, causing her to look down in an effort to hide it. She realizes that she is, in fact, in love with an earthbender too and that he already probably knows.

With her head still down, she punches him weakly in the shoulder.

"I… I love you too, Aang."

He breaks into a smile and laughs joyfully, pulling the girl flush against his chest. His happiness takes over him and a hundred years in an iceberg was definitely worth this.

He breaks the hug to look at her face, but notices it was still down. He knows how impaired Toph is with affection and tries to make her more comfortable.

"Toph, look at me."

She shakes her head.

"Please?"

She doesn't yield.

He sighs and decides to try something that was either going to send him to the skies or bury him twenty feet underground.

"Toph…"

"Hmm?"

He suddenly feels a little too shaky. His voice is breaking and his heart is racing, but he braves through.

"Can I kiss you?"

_KISS?_

She's tempted to decline. She's never been kissed before, and not from the lack of suitors' attempts.

"I've never had my first kiss."

"I have, and I regret with every bit of my being that it's not with you."

Feeling nothing but truth flowing through his veins, she decides that now would be the best time to tell their future children when they ask about their first kiss. With her heart pounding like crazy in her chest, she nods.

He blushes, but gathers all his Avatar courage and continues. He lifts his right hand and cradles her chin between two of his fingers. Tilting her head, he finds redness in her cheeks…

And tears in her eyes.

He panics.

"Toph, I—"

"I love you Aang. I really do."

He exhales. He slowly closes his eyes as he leans in. Sensing Aang's fingers drawing her chin in nearer and nearer, she closes hers too.

The tears fall out. He kisses her.

He presses his lips to hers in a tender, chaste, unforced kiss that needed no other. He savors the moment, then pulls away.

"I love you more, Toph."

He kisses her again.


	14. Princess

Note: This chapter will contain small details [namely, the description of Ursa's preferences on color and Azula's altered armor] that have not been shown in the series and are simply the product of this author's imagination. Such details, however seemingly insignificant, do bear implications that express the tone of the story [or specifically, this chapter] and for that reason, will remain. As it does not contradict any element of the series nor does it alter the very nature of any of the characters to an unacceptable degree, this author requests that her creative license be respected and that the reader/s [hopefully] appreciate it. Enjoy.

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 14: Princess

…

Fire Princess Azula is here.

…

_/_

_Previously…_

"Hey."

She stops.

"Yes?"

"I did love you. Back then. I really did."

She says nothing.

"I probably still do."

She walks away.

_/_

* * *

><p>Music fills the grand ballroom as guests and dignitaries arrive to celebrate the Fire Princess' twentieth birth anniversary. A crowd is starting to form in the gold-accented room, a buzz already spreading about whether the princess herself will make an appearance. She was, is, beautiful after all.<p>

Word has spread about the princess' pregnancy. Of course, opinions on the matter ranged from cruel "she deserved it" to neutral "that's too bad, but life's like that" comments. Surprisingly, the Fire Lord has received one too many genuine sorry notes and get well soon cards than he expected to receive. Apparently, the nations are of a more forgiving nature nowadays, especially since the union of the royalties of the Nation and the Tribes.

_Katara._

He realizes that he hasn't spoken to the waterbender in over a week, but it troubles him more that he hasn't even seen her that past two days. He misses her terribly but his pride, his wounded pride, wouldn't allow him to seek her out.

_No, not after she rejected me._

He sighs and walks out through approximately twenty-seven people making his way for him until he dismisses them. People automatically surround him, shaking his hand and making small talk. None could keep his full attention, as his eyes keep scanning the room for tan skin, brown hair and blue eyes. He gets exactly it when a certain Chief-to-be walks to him, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors right in tow.

_Well, not exactly it._

He smiles anyway and excuses himself from the crowd.

"It's nice to see you, Sokka. Suki, you're looking intimidating, as usual."

Hugs are exchanged as old friends meet again.

"How's it goin' Fire Lord? You're not touching my sister are you— Ouch! Suki!"

She places her fan back in her robes and clicks her tongue.

"Stop being such a doof, Sokka. Hi there, Zuko. How's life?"

He laughs as the brave warrior Sokka pouts at his wife.

"It's a little complicated right now, but at least I'm not running for my life anymore. How 'bout you Suki? Any mini-Kyoshi Warriors in the foreseeable future?"

She laughs.

"Nah, we're waiting a couple more years. Someone's a little too chicken…"

"Suki! You didn't have to tell him that!"

He sulks away to a corner. Suki rolls her eyes.

"I better go take care of the baby Sokka, Fire Lord. He eats much more when he's sulking."

"We can't have that, can we? Go on, Suki. I'll talk to you guys later."

She hugs him again and goes to find her husband. In the split second that she's gone, a collective gasp rings across the ground.

He turns. Fire Princess Azula is here.

* * *

><p>She isn't even sure if she has seen this place before. It looks fun, festive, and her eyes are having a bit of trouble adjusting to the light.<p>

Was this really her home?

_I've probably spent too long a time in the dungeons._

No, she thinks. The Fire Palace used to have the same feel all throughout. It's why she never found it unbearably hard to live, eat and sleep in the dungeons.

_But this… this place is different. Is this still the Fire Palace?_

She wonders if they are in a different place.

_No. This is the ballroom. Or at least, it was._

Her mind drifts to the waterbender who is currently walking beside her. Her visit to the underground chambers came as quite a surprise, she admits.

Their conversation replays in her head.

"_You're here."_

"_I thought you might need some help preparing for your celebration."_

"_I didn't ask why."_

"_You needed an explanation."_

"_Why would you help me? We're not friends."_

"_No, but we're family."_

"…_family?"_

"_Yes. Everyone deserves one, Azula, even you."_

"_But you're the Fire Lady!"_

"_Your mother was one too. And she loved you. I don't see why I can't continue that."_

She's bothered at how disgusted she was at the thought of her breaking down at the mention of her mother. She wonders why she isn't as thoroughly disgusted as she would've been, though thinking of her tears makes her feel something akin to shame. Azula doesn't cry.

"_I don't cry…"_

"_I don't mind if you do."_

"_It's weakness."_

"_It's strength."_

"_How would you know?"_

"_I cried a lot these past few months, and here I am brave enough to face you alone."_

"_I'm weakened."_

"_It doesn't make it any easier. Now come on, Princess, you have to try this dress on. The stylists insist."_

"_A dress? They can all just burn themselves in the face, I am NOT wearing a dress."_

"_Well, what do you want to wear?"_

"_My armor. My formal armor. I am not weak. My armor. I can still… I am not weak."_

She thought she was going to be laughed at. Instead, the water girl smiled.

"_I'll see what I can do."_

She tries to be as intimidating as she was before in front of all these people and walks straight up to the head table. She can't stop to remember what happened next.

She remembers that the water girl came back a long time after, probably half a day, carrying a large box that looked lighter than it was. She remembers opening it.

"_Sorry it took so long. It took some time altering it."_

She remembers rushing to take away the paper that was covering her armor.

"_You changed it? You CHANGED it? How dare you! You had no right—"_

"_Look at it, Azula."_

She tears up thinking about it and people are actually charmed by the side of the fire princess that would've been next to impossible a few years ago.

"_It's… it's my mother's…"_

"_Well it's your armor, but I had the tailors alter it a bit. Fire Lady Ursa favored black and gold, so I had them change the fabric to black and the trimmings to gold. I had them retain the actual cut of your armor, and I insisted that they keep the insets red because it represents your heart, the Fire Nation. And… if you look closely, the metal plates are now lined dark royal blue, because you are Azula, and no one else."_

She smiles at the memory and about half of the men in the crowd drop their jaws at the sight. She is beautiful, and they know it.

"_I hope you like it Azula. I know it's not your old armor anymore, but your old one was too much of Ozai, I thought you might want it to contain some of Ursa too."_

She runs her hand against the black fabric under the table. Another tear.

Katara makes a move to leave her and greet guests. She calls to the Fire Lady and the Fire Lady stops.

"Water peasant!"

Katara narrows her eyes. Azula smirks.

"Thank you."

She smiles.

"It was my pleasure, Princess. Now go and annoy your brother. I have to talk with some people."

She likes her sister-in-law.

_Mom, do you like her too? I think you would._

* * *

><p>His countenance wavers as he sees his sister walk through the giant doors. She is standing as tall as she can, but injuries and years without training caused her to lean just a little bit lower, unnoticeable by people who don't know her as well as he does. She still looks a little mean, but her smiles, as subtle as they are, feel a bit warmer, a bit more genuine than he had ever seen.<p>

It is as if she was a little girl again, the gleam of evil present in an otherwise innocent face, a prodigy of firebending rather than the reigning master of manipulation. He dares to hope, he has his sister again.

Her armor, he notes, looks familiar.

_Black and gold… Mom…_

He gets dumbfounded as he takes in Azula's armor in its entirety, noticing the blue lining of the metal plates and thinks of just how beautifully strong his sister is.

_She looks just like mom…_

It takes him a few minutes to register another woman, one that seemed to be guiding his sister through the crowd.

His breath just quite simply, stops.

She's wearing a royal blue dress that flows straight down her length like a robe, but it hugs her like her training clothes. The long sleeves cling to her arms until they billow from her elbows to her palms. Metallic bronze satin accents the edges of her dress, her waist, spiraling around and disappearing into the crevices. She moves into the light, and the bronze adds to her commanding presence. She moves into the dim and the blue adds to her mystery.

_Damn it. She looks so regal!_

Her hair has been weaved completely into an impeccably neat bun, with the golden fire crown embedded into it.

_It fits her. It fits her so much._

She successfully puts Azula in her place again, _the first time being in an Agni Kai gone wrong_, and as he watches his wife and his sister interact, he is overcome with a sense of family and, _dare he say it_, love that he decides to swallow his pride and approach the Fire Lady.

His feet start to move, but they stop suddenly as he sees Katara walk toward the center and start mingling. He argues with himself if he should still go to her, but decides against it for fear that she might be too embarrassed to talk with him. He goes to Azula instead.

"Hello, Azula."

She looks up from her food.

"What?"

He chuckles.

"I've never seen you eat so… carefree."

She growls.

"Well Zuzu, you haven't just had a baby, now have you?"

She eats. He smiles and hugs her from behind. She reverts back to her intimidating voice.

"What. are. you. doing. Zuzu?"

"You're strong, Azula. You don't have to dominate people into submission to prove it. You are strong. You're one of the strongest people I know."

"Let go of me, Zuko. Now."

He does, and sits next to her.

"But thanks, Fire Lord. I should say, you're not as bad at this as I thought. Still pretty bad though. I mean there's only one thing I have seen so far that can prove otherwise."

"What?"

She smirks.

"Your Fire Lady. One thing you and dad have in common. You guys have great taste in Fire Ladies."

He frowns.

"Father did not realize it."

She scoffs. Almost cruelly.

"Don't be so self-righteous. You don't realize it either."


	15. Love

Note: This author doesn't generally add unnecessary notes to her literary works as she fully realizes that the readers subscribe to fanfiction for the sole purpose of reading fanfiction [in its most obvious definition] and in that she recognizes that it is not of the reader's intention to be bothered by anything outside of the story they have graced with their attention. In any case, this is a special exception, as this author is amused by the fact that this chapter [the longest one, so far] is to be posted on the eve of Valentine's Day [or the day itself, depending on the reader's location], and is so aptly named considering the occasion. Coincidences do happen, apparently, and with that this author will now be glad to present this as her valentine to all readers, whose presence and reviews never fail to inspire. Enjoy.

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 15: Love

…

"In short, I am not obliged to love you."

…

He strides purposefully towards the gem of bronze and blue, determined to make amends or at least, for all purposes, talk.

Well, he would, but there is currently a wall of men surrounding the Fire Lady, _his Fire Lady_, all making googly-eyes at her. He narrows his eyes.

_They're obviously turning their charms on for her._ _How dare they? She married to ME!_

He steams, quite literally.

_They're flirting with her! Doesn't she realize it?_

The green-eyed monster rears its ugly head, and immediately anger comes bubbling up the surface.

_Is she… actually liking the attention?_

He doesn't stay to find out. He stalks off, his blood boiling and his heart breaking and his eyes dimming, failing to notice the blue eyes that lit up when he came and the hope that was shattered when he left.

* * *

><p>He slams the door and throws his crown on the floor. His hair falls over his eyes and he hastily removes his outer robes.<p>

He firebends.

"You know you don't have to take it out on the fireplace."

He growls. The Fire Lady is standing on his balcony.

"WHAT are you doing here?

"I could ask you the same thing. You're not supposed to be here."

"Well you're not supposed to be flirting with ever man you see!"

She snaps.

"You think I was flirting? How dare you Zuko! When I was single I didn't even do that, now you're telling me I'm a married woman setting herself loose?"

They're shouting now.

"Well what the heck was I supposed to think, Katara? They were too close to you, they were violating you with their eyes, they—"

"Violating? Zuko, those were dignitaries, your allies!"

He shakes his head a little too vigorously.

"They're not allying with me if they're flirting with my wife!"

"We weren't flirting! Gosh Zuko, why are you being like this?"

His voice drops dangerously low.

"You know why, Katara. You know damn well why."

They're silent. He stays inside. She stays on the balcony.

"Zuko, I need to tell you something."

She feels his blood go into frenzy. He panics.

"What? Are you leaving?"

Her eyes widen.

"No! Zuko would you just listen?"

His head lowers.

"Zuko… you can't possibly really love me. I'm a water tribe peasant, remember? You don't love me, you probably just—"

"But I do Katara! I do love you, believe me!"

She silences him with a look.

"Zuko, don't you remember who I am? I'm a Southern Water Tribe girl. A waterbender! Isn't that what you dislike the most?"

"No! That was five years ago!"

"I said listen to me first!"

"Well if you didn't keep on telling me lies about myself, I would!"

She breathes in deeply and looks at the Fire Lord. He was, without his crown and the royal robes, a man just trying to uphold his strength in front of the woman he loves.

He, who has never cried in front of anybody except his mother, gives the same privilege to the waterbender.

"I was weak, Katara. You left me at my most vulnerable and you didn't even bother to give me a reason why. I don't think anything you say now can make me forget that."

She tries her best not to cry too and speaks.

"Azula looked good today, didn't she?"

He wipes furiously at his tears and shouts.

"Well if you're just going to ignore the situation then just get out!"

"Alright Zuko! I'm sorry!"

He does not relent.

"Get out now Katara! Get out of this room, get out of this palace! Get out of my life, I don't care! Just get out!"

Her heart breaks and she's afraid, because waterbending cannot heal that.

She is amazed, however, at how the sight of Zuko crying pushes her eyes to remain tearless.

_If I cry, it will only make him cry harder._

"Alright Zuko. I will. But you need to hear me first. Listen, and then I'll go. I'll leave your room, I'll leave your palace…"

She pauses.

"…I'll leave you. But not until you hear me out."

His sniffs are the only audible thing for the moment. He sits on his bed and speaks.

"Deal."

She half expects him to plead for her to stay, but she knows she got exactly what she asked for.

_I guess I deserve that._

"First, I need you to understand that this marriage of ours, it was done for peace. And now we have that peace."

His head, which was resting in his hands, forced itself to stay that way.

_This is it._

She continues.

"It would be safe to say that this marriage has served its purpose."

_She's justifying herself._

"You and I, we used to hate each other. Back when I was travelling to the Fire Nation to get married to you, that hatred of mine came back with a vengeance."

_I knew it._

"I hated you."

_She hates me._

"You hurt me so much back then, even though you weren't doing it intentionally, you were taking away my freedom. And it hurt."

_You're hurting me now too! Can't you see?_

"For the first year here in the palace, all I wanted to do was get away. Far from here, back to my family, back to where I belong."

_And you realize that now._

"I wasn't meant to be Fire Lady, but I became one, by your side, and I thought it was quite literally, the worst job in the world."

His head snaps up.

"Excuse me?"

"You said you'd listen, Zuko."

He places his head back in his hands. A mumbled "fine!" is heard.

"Good. Now where was I? Ah yes. After becoming Fire Lady, I threw myself into the work because of three main reasons."

He braces himself.

"One, because I wanted to bring peace to the world, and I would strive to maintain that for as long as I live."

_Valid point._

"Two, I was stuck in a marriage I didn't want because of the work I had to do. I wasn't going to waste the sacrifice I was forced to make."

_Painful, but valid point._

"And last, I worked every chance I can because I didn't want to see you, talk to you, or do anything I can avoid doing with you."

_Just painful._

"Are you just here to insult me, Katara? Are you that cruel?"

She ignores him.

"I am not obliged to act as your wife by any means, I am only obliged to serve by your side as the Fire Lady."

"I know!"

"I am not obliged to act as a lover to you. I am not obliged to touch you in any way. I am not obliged to lay with you as man and wife as our marriage didn't need to be consummated to be validated."

"I know, Katara! Why are you rubbing it into my face?"

She pays him no heed.

"I am not obliged to bear your children and give you an heir. I am not obliged to adore you in public or private. I am not obliged to interact with you other than what is necessary, or ask how you feel, or take care of you."

He stands up and shouts with everything he has.

"I KNOW! JUST STOP IT KATARA! I GET IT! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO TORTURE ME LIKE THIS?"

He stops in a panting fit. She stays how she is, as if she didn't hear the man shouting from inside the room. Her voice is normal.

"In short, I am not obliged to love you."

He feels as if his own white fire is burning him from inside his chest. He's never felt pain like this before.

"I know, Katara. Please stop. Please."

She turns toward him but stays in her spot on the balcony.

"And then you went and sent me on that forced vacation, lying to me and insulting me in the process."

He sinks back down to his bed, his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.

_She's stating the reasons why she's rejecting me._

"I can't be in love with you Zuko, because quite frankly…"

She pauses. His time stops.

_Why Katara? Because I don't deserve to be loved?_

She inhales, exhales. She speaks.

"I don't deserve to."

His eyes fly open and his head shoots up.

"What…?"

"I don't deserve it, Zuko. All you and your officials wanted was to prove that the Fire Nation was changing and all my people wanted was peace, but I hated you all for that because I was so selfish, thinking only about my own good."

"Katara—"

"Let me finish. I went here and you tried to make me feel comfortable, importing South Pole food, installing more water sources even in the walls of the palace, you had the tailors produce blue silk, for goodness' sake! And how did I treat you? How did I pay you back?"

He stays silent.

"With hostility! I didn't even give you the respect you deserved as Fire Lord, much less as a friend, even less as a husband! Me, someone who came from the tribe who values family more than anyone else!"

He doesn't know what to say, or how.

"I had the tenacity to hate you, Zuko! Even when you did nothing wrong. I don't deserve the title of the Fire Lady, especially since the last woman to bear it is in my opinion, the best one there ever was."

His eyes soften at the mention of his mother. He's too touched to speak.

"I stained your reputation by being so cold to the Fire Lord that defied everything to achieve peace, acceptance. I failed to do the very thing this marriage strived to teach the world. And I'm the Fire Lady! It's just not right, Zuko."

She turns back away from him and walks to the railing, staring at the night sky.

"When I first sensed Mai living underground, I was livid. I was so insulted, you having a mistress and letting her live in the palace, I wanted to just bloodbend you out of your own ego. Then you never came clean and after a few weeks you sent me away. I thought I had it figured out, that Mai was pregnant with your baby and I hated you more than I ever did before. I went on that trip to Gaoling because I wanted to get away from you and your lies. I got there and I saw Aang and then Toph and somehow, I got a glimpse of how happy I am without you. And so I wanted to stay."

He remembers his panic at Katara's late return.

"I tried to stall as much as I can, but Aang and Toph knew what I was doing and bugged me every single day to go back. What kind of Fire Lady does that?"

"Katara—"

"I didn't want to go back just to get lied to."

"Katara, I didn't lie to you! I—"

"I know that now Zuko. But back then I still thought the baby was Mai and yours. I didn't recognize Azula's bloodrush probably because I haven't sensed her in a long time, and Zul's blood was already interfering with hers. I hated you so much and for what? For protecting me, for caring for my well-being! What kind of wife does that?"

She's crying now, but she doesn't care.

"Zuko, I'm not honorable enough."

He stands up in protest.

"What are you talking about Ka—"

"I don't deserve the honor of being loved by you, and I've long lost the privilege to love you in return."

His eyes are swimming with affection and all he wants to do is hold her. He stays silent, however, as she continues.

"You don't know how happy I was when you told me you loved me. But I couldn't continue being so, because you deserve someone who deserves you. Someone whose honor is as undisputed as yours."

He closes and opens his fists in an attempt to release some of the swirling emotions inside him. It does not.

"I hope you understand, Zuko. I left you there because it's better to leave someone who is vulnerable rather than lift him up just to let him fall. I left you not because I didn't feel the same, quite the opposite actually, and—"

He stops listening and takes long, quick strides from his bed to the balcony's edge.

She stops talking because all of a sudden, she is spun around and pinned to the balcony railing. Her lips move to protest but they freeze at the same millisecond when the Fire Lord claims them as his.

He kisses her with abandon, determined to make her feel the sea of passion raging inside him. He's been longing to be close to his wife for too long, longing for her to give him any semblance of hope. Now she has and that's all it took for his pride to completely dismantle itself.

She is shocked beyond belief to command her own body to react, but like the very element she controls, her lips seemed to move where they're guided. She isn't pouring everything into the kiss like Zuko is, but by no means is she ignoring his plea.

A few seconds into the kiss and her head starts to spin, rocked to its core by this, _no words can describe_ act her husband is doing. She is drowning and flying and spinning all at the same time and she isn't sure she wants it to stop.

Zuko takes his lips from hers, but only just barely a millimeter away and whispers.

"I love you, Katara. Say you're not leaving me, please, I love you…"

And then he kisses her again, this time in short bursts of passion, fusing his lips with hers, breaking the kiss and restarting it as soon as he does. It renders her breathless just as the first one did.

She remembers her reasons and breaks the kiss. She raises her arms to his chest to push him away, but his hold on her waist only tightens and she is pressed harder against the surprisingly comfortable railings.

"Zuko… my honor… I haven't done anything to deserve this, to deserve you…"

He smiles his half-smile and she is tempted to just kiss him as he was kissing her.

"You healed my scar."

She looks away.

"Any master waterbending healer can do that."

"Not that scar, Katara. I wasn't talking about the scar my father's fire gave me."

"Then what…?"

"I was talking about the scar my father's indifference, the one his hatred burned into my being. You healed that, Katara. No one else but you could have taught me what trust, what love was. And I'm eternally grateful for that."

He kisses her, gently this time, as he tries to convey gratitude and just pure indebtedness to this woman.

"But Zuko—"

A kiss. A gentle shush. She speaks nevertheless.

"I have to regain my honor."

Zuko laughs. He laughs and she swears he was doing everything on purpose, because she really, really, REALLY just wants to wrap her hands all around him and return the favors he's been doing for her. He speaks earnestly.

"So be with me."

The kiss begins passionately, and she fists his shirt against his chest, gently starting to pull him closer.

"I already am."

The kiss continues.

"Then love me."

They don't relent.

"I already do."

He stops abruptly and steps back. She worries.

"Zuko?"

He turns on his heel and paces in frenzy, before taking two long strides back to the spot where she is still glued.

He grabs her shoulders and looks into her eyes.

"Say it."

She is so captivated by how intensely burning his gaze is that she almost misses his demand. Her brain registers it and upon realization, she is overcome with embarrassment and quickly breaks his gaze, shaking her head no.

He is never one to give up though, and he cups her jaw with both his hands to keep her head inclined to his, willing her eyes to look straight to him.

"Say it, Katara."

Her name on his lips is almost too much, her entire body burning with love and passion for this young man that she just couldn't deny him.

"I love you, Zuko. Even if I'm not required to, I still do."

She expects him to kiss her into oblivion now, and she is genuinely surprised when he exhales with relief and takes her hands in his.

"I love you too, Katara. More than I ever thought I could. More than I can imagine. And it's you Katara. Only you."

He hasn't even completely ended his statement when Katara, in a big surge of confidence, grabs him by the nape and pulls him straight to her lips.

He couldn't believe it. She, Katara, Lady of the Fire Nation, Princess of the Water Tribes, greatest waterbender alive and the undisputed love of his life is kissing him, willingly!

The Fire Lord gets over his surprise and wraps his arms tightly around his wife's waist, lifting her slightly to press her lips against his more, as much as is humanly possible. Her arms find their way to his neck. Air becomes necessary, and the couple is forced to break. Katara's knees are already giving out and she is just so blown away now that she thinks it's almost impossible to come back.

He rests his forehead against hers and reaches his hand up to her face. He traces a finger along her jawline, his thumb gently caresses her cheek when she realizes something.

She's been crying this whole time.

And by the way his forehead scrunches against hers, she knows he knows too. He kisses her eyelids with such tenderness that she can't help but tear up again. Smiling softly, he pulls away from her a bit and grasps her arms. She shakes her head and looks down, tears coming more freely now. He chuckles quietly.

"Hey. It's alright, you don't have to be shy with me…"

He hugs her tightly, letting her cry on his chest as he sheds a few tears of his own. A few moments pass peacefully.

That is, until Fire Lady Katara takes form once again.

"Azula's party! I can't believe we forgot about it!"

She straightens up to leave, but the Fire Lord refuses to budge.

"Zuko! We really need to get back down there!"

He mumbles into her shoulder. She laughs.

"Come on, Fire Lord. You know how terribly important it is for the royal couple to be at the party…"

He lifts his head from her _impossibly_ still neat hair and grins.

"Yeah, I guess it is."

She walks first to the bedroom, with Zuko following after. She notices Zuko's robes on the floor and suddenly groans.

"Great. I probably look like a shedding bison now."

She's a little startled when Zuko hugs her from behind.

"I'm going to be honest with you and say that there are times when you look more like a disgruntled mooselion than a graceful fox-antelope."

She pushes her elbow into his stomach. Being a warrior his whole life, he dodges it easily.

"But believe me. When I saw you tonight, you just rendered me speechless. Beautiful, in all senses of the word. The crown on your head just looked so… welcome there that it gave me chills. And I rarely get chills, you know that."

She blushes and attempts the elbow move again.

"Don't go all mushy on me, Zuko."

"I'm serious! And now you have a smile to go with it and you're the nearest thing to perfect I can imagine."

She blushes silently.

"Not to mention you'll have the Fire Lord as your loyal escort…"

"Don't flatter yourself, Fire Lord. I'll escort myself, thank you very much."

He squeezes her gently.

"Oh, but I will. In fact, I won't leave you alone. Ever."

He mumbles the next thing, thinking Katara wouldn't hear. She does.

"…firebend at anyone who looks at you for more than five seconds…"

"…damn shameless men…"

"…MY wife…"

She rests her head against his chest and sighs. She teases.

"Were you jealous?"

"Shut up."

The Fire Lady smirks and breaks free from her husband's embrace. She looks into the mirror and briefly arranges her appearance before setting her gaze on Zuko, who was now re-wearing his robes. She notices the golden crown on the floor near her, so she picks it up and approaches him.

He smiles and kneels before her. She places the crown on his topknot and places a kiss on it. He rises and returns the favor to her lips.

"Can't believe I'm in love with you, water peasant."

She curves her eyebrows.

"Well, aren't you quite the Prince Charming."

He smirks.

"You know, I was a prince once."

She rolls her eyes.

"Whatever you say, Prince. Now let's go!"

He loves her. He really does.


	16. Luck

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 16: Luck

…

_I'm so lucky I finally have you, Toph…_

…

The ball downstairs shows no sign of being slowed down since earlier this evening, but people have been asking about the Fire Lord and Lady's absence.

The Avatar and the most terrifying woman in the room, _save for Azula,_ has been entertaining in place of the royal couple. Aang keeps on glimpsing on Toph, who appears to have a perpetual blush plastered on her face, leading to Aang having a perpetual goofy grin plastered on his.

_My Toph. MY Toph!_

His grin grows with giddiness at the thought. He's loved her ever since the war ended and he was travelling alone, his whole world being rocked to its very core when he realized that though he missed them all, he was so unbelievably lonely whenever he thought of Toph, and it was Toph he thought of more often than not.

It grows even more as he sees the earthbender excusing herself from Suki and her warriors and stomping her way to him.

He's quite amused, her elegant green and golden gown swooshing around her while she trudges forward like a soldier off-duty and heading to the firing ranges.

"Hey Toph! I—"

She punches him right in the gut.

"Can you stop staring at me, Twinkletoes? I'm blind and standing on the other side of the room but I can still practically see you boring holes into my back!"

He tries putting on a suave voice.

"Why, does it make you shiver? Send chills down your spine?"

"It's gonna send rock javelins up your spine if you don't stop it right now!"

He chuckles.

"I can't help it, Toph. I just can't take my eyes off you."

She punches him again and some nearby guests raise their eyebrows at the groaning Avatar.

"You're such an idiot! Ugh!"

She stomps off, her face even redder as he continues chuckling to himself.

_I'm so lucky I finally have you, Toph… You're beautiful._

He smiles. Toph goes to talk with the children of the Gaoling dignitaries.

_You really are._

A teenaged boy, a little bit older than him, approaches the crowd Toph has attracted.

_Actually…_

The boy makes his way to the earthbender.

_I wonder why no one else is noticing just how beautiful…_

The boy shakes her hand.

He frowns.

_Well they're just shaking hands, Aang. What's wrong with that?_

They talk. He chastises himself for starting to feel a little… possessive.

Toph makes a move to excuse herself, and he almost releases a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Almost.

The boy seems to have acknowledged Toph's excuse, but not before he reaches for Toph's hand and places a kiss on it.

He couldn't form a scooter fast enough.

The crowd gasps in delight as the Avatar flies overhead on his air scooter, most of them never having seen any form of airbending before. Dismounting right beside Toph, he smiles at the boy and places an arm around Toph's waist. They make small talk until it's the boy who excuses himself from the two. Once he is gone, Toph sighs and raises an eyebrow.

"You're being unreasonably jealous, aren't you?"

His eyes widen. He lets out a nervous chuckle and speaks.

"What? Of course not! I—"

She turns to him and stares blankly.

He sighs.

"Fine… I'm sorry Toph, I don't know what came over me. I just… when he kissed your hand… I… uh…"

"You're being a bumbling idiot for nothing, Twinkletoes. I'm yours, remember?"

He smiles and places a kiss on her head. He gets a kick in return.

"Thanks for understanding, Toph. You're the best!"

"No problem. Now go do some more Avatar business, I just have something to do."

"What?"

"Nothing big. Seriously, go. Sparky and Sweetness are back, talk to them while I'm gone."

He looks unconvinced, but lets it go.

"O-kay then. I'll see you later."

He runs off to Zuko and Katara, and Toph goes straight to the gardens where she buried three girls to the chest for kissing Aang on the cheek.

_I guess two hours is enough punishment for now._


	17. Shame

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 17: Shame

…

She's still too ashamed to speak.

…

"Hey."

"Hey."

The air is a little awkward and it isn't for lack of things to talk about.

No, the air is awkward exactly because of the nature of the things they can talk about.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

She feels so ashamed.

"I thought wrongly of you. I'm sorry."

Her voice betrays no emotion.

"It's not your fault, Fire Lady. Zuko was stupid enough to hide it from you and we can't blame you for assuming things."

She sighs.

"Still. I should've valued your honor and Zuko's. I know your principles won't let you do such things, but I chose to believe the worst. I'm sorry."

Mai looks at her.

"No offense, Fire Lady, but how do you expect this conversation to go? I won't apologize because it wasn't my fault, I won't let you apologize because it wasn't your fault. We can't blame Zuko completely, and I won't let anyone blame Azula for this. The only one who is at fault is that guy Tien, but he slit his throat before I could, so this conversation is practically pointless."

Katara is silent.

"I know what you want to ask."

She's still too ashamed to speak.

"There is nothing left of the romantic relationship Zuko and I used to have. Yes, we might have had feelings for each other, but we've known each other our whole lives and we've both lived in Azula's shadow, we were prisoners in our own homes. We were so similar that it seemed almost impractical for us not to form a bond. We were too… compatible."

Her heart searches her brain for things to say to lessen the jealousy she's feeling.

"But as similar as we are, we're still not for each other. I know that, Zuko knows that."

She tries to smile.

"You, on the other hand, are literally almost destined to end Zuko, or him, you, so much that you were on opposite sides of a hundred year war. And for you to end up with each other, it seemed so incredibly unrealistic back then but now it seems just plain impossible for you guys not to."

She succeeds in producing a genuine smile.

"I… I hope you're right."

She smirks, though any trace of sarcasm isn't detectable.

"I'm always silent because I'm always right, Katara."

She couldn't help it. The Fire Lady hugs the knife-thrower.

She can't say she hated it.


	18. Yours

**Bloodrush**

Love. Guilty until proven innocent.

…

Chapter 18: Yours

…

"I'm yours, Zuko. All yours."

…

She waits by the pond for the turtleduck, a piece of bread in her hand.

The Fire Lord looks down at her from his balcony, having went back to his room immediately after the party hoping to see her there too.

Watching her feed the turtleducks, still in her blue and bronze dress but already barefoot, her face serene, the moon on her fingertips, Zuko just can't believe his luck.

_How in the world did I deserve you, Katara?_

He couldn't be away from her anymore. He calls.

"Hey you."

She looks up to see her husband, in his regal kingly robes, but without his crown and his hair released from its topknot. Her breath is taken away and she smiles.

"Hey Fire Lord."

"Can you come up here?"

"Of course, my king."

He feels a passion stirring within him when he hears her refer to him as "her king". His voice becomes a little rushed.

"Get inside and upstairs now. I'll go open the door for you."

She smirks. His passion grows a bit.

"No need. Waterbender, remember?"

She summons the pond water and rides the growing wave up to the Fire Lord's balcony. He smiles and helps her over the railing. She bends the water back to the pond and its very puzzled turtleducks.

They chuckle a bit before he stops and stares.

"My love."

She blushes and smiles in return.

"My prince."

His self-control breaks.

"Closer. Come closer to me, Fire Lady. My queen… I need you closer."

"You're such a sap, Zuko."

He pulls her to him and conquers her lips in a kiss that surprises her. It's passionate and burning and _beautiful_, she feels like he's transferring his inner fire to her.

She decides to just let go and make him feel what she feels. They're married, what's wrong with that?

She wraps her arms around his neck, one of which snakes up to his shaggy hair, caressing his scalp and pushing his head closer to her. He releases something akin to a moan. He couldn't help it, feeling her respond with enthusiasm adds fuel to the fire.

He reluctantly pulls away from her to breathe, smiling to himself when he sees her gently panting, his manly pride taking satisfaction in taking her breath away. He compensates quickly for the loss of contact by kissing her neck gently, earning a gasp from her and a tighter grip from her arms.

"Zuko…"

He nibbles on a random spot on her shoulder.

"Katara… Katara I'm yours. Tell me you're mine too…"

She brings him back to her lips.

"I'm yours, Zuko. All yours."

He kisses her, _again, _this time in a series of pecks to her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, her jaw and every single inch of her face.

"Katara…"

"Hmm?"

"Would you… maybe want to sleep with me tonight?"

She freezes on the spot, the blood rushing to her cheeks as she processes her husband's request.

"Uhm… Zuko… I…"

His own face reddens as he realizes why Katara suddenly became uncomfortable. He immediately explains.

"N-no! I m-meant, sleep beside me, tonight. Y-you know, on m-my bed…"

His eyes widen.

"I m-mean, on my bed literally, not figuratively… You know, because we just started being together and it's too soon and I just thought—"

"Zuko you're rambling."

She giggles a bit and hugs him.

"I'd love to, Zuko. I'm actually a bit tired already. Do you want to sleep now?"

He nods and leads her out of the balcony and into his bedroom. He escorts her to her side of the bed, kissing her lightly on the lips after she lies down before walking around the bed toward his side.

He removes his robes, leaving him with a pair of black pants with a black tunic on top. He starts removing his tunic and the Fire Lady freaks out.

"What are you doing?"

He frowns.

"Taking my shirt off so I can sleep better. Will it make you uncomfortable?"

She gulps but shakes her head.

"No, of course not. Go ahead."

She forces herself not to want to look, but that wasn't even plausible. So she closes her eyes and waits.

She feels the bed shift and immediately turns the other way.

"Is anything wrong?"

She cringes when she hears the hurt in his voice. She doesn't want to hear it again.

She turns her body so that she's facing him, and shyly places her palm on his chest. He relaxes and lies on his back. She is filled with the desire to rest her head on his shoulder, which she then gives in to.

"You're… warm. Like, really warm."

"I'm a firebender, love."

"It's good… it feels so…"

She drifts off and settles in better. He wonders how she manages to fall asleep in one of her formal dresses and still be comfortable.

"I love you, Fire Lady. Sleep tight."

He starts to fall asleep too when he hears mumbling.

"Zuko…"

He sleeps unbelievably well.

* * *

><p>-fin-<p>

[15/04/12, 23:03]


End file.
